Furnace



N. R. STANSEL FURNACE Oct. 27, 1931. 1,829,684

Filed Aug. 21, 1929 2 25 ,S'naZZgr Inventor: Numan RStansel,

by WW His Attorney Patented Oct. 27,- 1931 7 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEHUMAN R. BTANSED, 0F SCHIENECIADY, NEW YORK, ASBIGNOB TO GENERALELM'I'RIO COMPANY, A CORPORATION 01 YORK FURNACE a lication ma August:1, ma Serial 30. 887,615.

My invention relates to furnaces, more particularl to furnaces of thecontinuous type in whic a selected atmosphere is maintained, and has forits object the provision of closure means for the furnace whereby thefurnace is maintained tightly closed while the charge is being insertedand removed.

,As previously stated, my invention has especial application tocontinuous furnaces, i. e., furnaces in which the charge to be heated isof much greater length than the heating chamber so that it must bepassed continuously through the furnace and heated by degrees. Suchfurnaces are particularly useful in the annealing of long metal sheets,rods, etc. In order to reduce the oxidation during the heating operationa selected gas, such as hydrogen, is often maintained in the heatingchamber to the exclusion of the outside air. With the continuousfurnace, however, this obviously necessitates the sealing of the furnacearound the char e at the oint where it enters and leaves the eating camber so that the gas will be retained.

In accordance with my invention I provide a substantially gas-tightclosure around the charge, which closure in one form comprises a pair ofrotary members between which the charge passes in entering and leavingthe furnace.

For more complete understanding of my invention reference should be hadto the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1' of which is a fragmenta frontelevation view of a furnace embo ying m invention; Fig. 2 is afragmentary side e evation view of the furnace shown in Fig. 1, whileFig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig.

. shown) w ich it will be understoo .as the opening '11, an

furnace and out through an opening at the opposite end, it willbeunderstood that an- I haveshown a pair of rollers 12 an other openingsimilar to the opening 11' will be providedat that end; The furnace maybe suitably heated such as by electric, gas or other in arallel relationone above the other directly in front of the opening 11 on the exteriorof the furnace. It will be noted that, the point of engagement 14between the rollers is directly opposite the openin 11 while the rollersextend upward and ownward respectively from this point. The rollers aremounted in an elongated channel-shaped member 15 rovided with a flangededge by means of w ich it is secured to the front of the furnace bymeans of suitable screws or bolts 16. The ends of the channel member 15are closed by means of plates 17 and '18 provided with bearings 19 and20 respectivey for the lower roller 13.

In order to provide for a limited amount of'vertical movement of oneroller away from the other, this roller, as shown the u per roller 12,has its bearm or journal ens 21 and 22, which are of re uced size,extending throu h vertically elongated slots 23 and 24 in en pieces 17and 18 respectively. The roller 12 is also 'yieldingly biased in thedownward direction directly into engagement with the lower roller bymeans of suitable springs acting on the bearing members 21 and 22. Sincethe arrangement with respect to journal 22 onl is shown in detail, itwill be described, a though it is understood that the arrangement with,respectfto journal 21 is identical in construction. As shown, a rec,tan ar clamping member 25 is mounted at its ower end on the protrudingshaft 26 of the lower roll. In the upper end of the member 25 a screw 27is provided which extends downward into engagement with the upper end ofspring 28 havin its lower end bearin inuturn on .a journalliox 29 forthe jouma 22. Preferably a cylindrical guide 30 is provided for thespring and the lower end of the screw. It is also contem lated that therollers will each be tapered slightly from the center to somewhatsmaller ends of which the. roller 13- can to compensate for flenure ofthe rollers and thus assure a uniforrnenga ement of the rollers witheach other or the c rge throughout their lengths. A gear wheel 31 isprovided onthe end of the bearin 6 by means he turned if desired. I

Inside the channel member 15 is packing means cooperating with theupper'and lower sides of the rollers respectively so as to form tightseals between the rollers and the walls 0 the furnace at these points.As shown, the upper roller 12 is provided with an asbestos brush 32extending across the front of i the furnace in a horizontal position andhaving its inner edgeengaging the furnace walls,

and its outere ge formed to fit on the upper side of the roller. Tofurther assure a gastight seal, a second brush 33 is provided between.the roller and the outer wall of the channel member 15. The spacebetween the brushes and the u er wall of the channel f member is filledwit asbestos or other suitable packin 34 which is sufficiently yieldableto rmit t e roller. and brushes to slide up an down a limited amountwhen the charge is passed between the rollers. A similar arrangement forthe lower side of the lower roller is constituted by brushes 35 and 36and asbestos packing 37.

Y The particular arrangement shown is especially suitable for sealingthe furnaces I used in annealing long strips of sheet metal. I Thestrip'is passed into the furnace between r llers .12 and 1a, theupperroller being thereby lifted slightly against it bia d the two rollersfitting closely against the sheet, of metal so as to prevent the escapeof gas. A similar roller seal will of course be provided at thedischarge end of the furnace where the sheet of metal leaves the heatingchamber. If desired the rollers maybe utithrough the furnace.

lized also as positive feeding means for dri-v ing one of the rollers,such as the lower,

' roller, by a suitable motor connected to the gear 31 whereby the sheetof metal is fed While I have described my invention as,

'embodiedin concrete formand as operating in a specific manner 1naccordance with the ovislons of the patent statute's, it. should heunderstood that -I do not limit my invention thereto, since variousmodifications thereof will suggest themselves vto those vskilled in theart without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope ofwhich is set forth in the annexed claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent of the UnitedStates, is:

1. A closure for furnaces comprising a pair of coo erating rotarymembers between which the charge is passed into said furnace, at leastone of said rotary members being tapered 'from its center to each end sothat oppositely disposed sides of said rotary mem-.

bers closely a charge passing between them.

2. A furnace comprising walls forminga heating chamber provided with acharging opening, and a pair of rotary members forming a closure for.said openin between which 7 the charge is. passed into sai heatingchamber, said rotary members each being tapered from its center tosmaller ends so as to closely engage the charge. I

3. A furnace oomprisin walls forming a heating chamber provide with achargin opening, a pair of rollers mounted in sai opening, sa1d-rollersbeing tapered so as toclosel en age a charge passing between them and tere g form 'a closure for said opening, andv yielda 1e means for holdingsaid rollers in engagement with each other to seal said opening, saidmeans bein yieldable to allow the charge to be passed etween said rotarymembers into said furnace.

4. The combination in a contlnuous furnace for heating elongatedarticles, of a pair of rollers adjacent the charging opening of saidfurnace, at least one of said rollers being tapered from its center toeach end so that adjacent sides of said rollers closely engage a charge.passed between them, and'means forming a as-tight seal between theouter.

sides of sai rollers and said furnace.

5. The combination in a furnace for continuously aniiealing sheet metal,of walls. forming a heating chamber provided with a charging opening, aair of cooperating rollers arranged in para elrelation adjacent said 0ening, each of said rollers being tapere from itscenter to eachend so asto

